


A Careless Mistake

by WhatTheWentz



Series: Steelatom Week 2017 [3]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bisexuality, Dinosaurs, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Feelings, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Making Out, Nightmares, Steelatom Week Day 3: Fake/Pretend Relationship, SteelatomWeek2017, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-13 22:36:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11194875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatTheWentz/pseuds/WhatTheWentz
Summary: For a mission, Nate and Ray go undercover, but get mistaken as a couple, which leads to them having to pretend to be one.  Soon, though, the feelings start to feel real.





	A Careless Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really proud of this one tbh

Sometimes, Ray was forced to face the cruel, brutal truth about himself; he  _ sucked  _ under pressure.

  
It had been a simple mission where he and Nate had been told to go undercover as brothers so that they could investigate a time aberration at a hotel, probably an effect from their breakage of time.

 

However, when they reached the front desk, they were faced with a question all of a sudden, “What is it, a couple suite?”

 

Ray froze, and before he could correct the woman with the sentence that hung on his tongue, his mouth betrayed him, “Yeah, sure.  Thanks.”

 

Nate glared at him for a second, then reluctantly went along with the plan, playing up the situation that Ray had laid out for them by wiring his arm around the taller man’s shoulder, “Thank you.”

 

“You two make a cute couple.” the woman behind the desk remarked, handing the boys the key, “Okay, have fun!” she grinned.

 

As Ray and Nate walked away, the historian hissed quietly,  _ “What the hell man?” _

 

“Sorry, buddy.” Ray frowned, ashamed, “Have I screwed this up?  We could get one of the others t--”

 

Sara’s voice spoke in the comms link, “Oh my God.  You’re only undercover as a couple.  We’ve all had to do it.  Now take your fragile masculinity and get the hell over it.”

 

“Well.” Nate seemed surprised, then turned off his comms whilst Ray also turned off his, “That told us.  And it’s okay.  We’re just undercover, yeah?  Plus, it’s not like either of us haven’t had boyfriends before.” at Ray’s confused look, Nate rubbed the back of his head anxiously and confessed, “I used to keep up with the local news a lot, and you happened to be in it quite a bit.”   
  


Ray looked flabbergasted and slightly confused, “Never thought you were the type of guy to read that stuff.”

 

“Well…” Nate shrugged, “I guess there’s a lot you don’t know about me.”   
  


Ray joked, “Yeah.  Like you having boyfriends.  Had no clue.”

 

“I dated quite a few people in college.” Nate admitted, “Guys, girls… nothing ever lasted though.  Apparently, I’m too obsessed with my work.” They made it to their room, and Nate waited for Ray to unlock it before continuing, entering the room, “Also, a lot of people hated dealing with my baggage.  Living with a blood-related illness kinda made people too scared to break me.  In the end, I decided that my education and work was more important to me than having a girlfriend or boyfriend.” The historian swung their luggage down onto the floor, “So.  One bed.  I don’t mind sleeping on the floor.”   
  


Ray shook his head, “No, I screwed up.  You should get the bed.”

 

“I already told you, it’s fine.  Just caught me off guard.” Nate stated, “I don’t mind the floor.  Besides, if I steel on during the night by accident, and I realise how wrong that sounds, don’t get me wrong, I could end up damaging things.”

 

Ray queried, “You’ve been steeling during the night?”   
  


“If I have a bad dream, it’ll sometimes happen.” Nate explained, embarrassed, “I don’t mean to, but… you know.   Luckily, the beds on the Waverider are quite durable  _ and oh my God, I am really digging myself a hole here.” _

 

The scientist snorted a laugh, “It’s okay.” all humour drained from his voice and his tone shifted to one of concern as he questioned, “You’ve been having nightmares?  How often?”

 

“Not all the time.” Nate replied, seemingly ashamed, “And before you ask, they’re about my Grandpa.  I’m over it, I really am, but the rest of my body doesn’t seem to have gotten the message about it.  I just… I keep being back there, wondering if there was something I could’ve done.  Part of me feels like I failed him, failed my dad too.”

 

Ray rested a hand on his shoulder and attempted to comfort the other man, “I’m sorry to hear that, buddy.  But you know… it wasn’t your fault.  He sacrificed himself.  He made a conscious decision to do that, and we have to respect his choice.”   
  


“Yeah, I know.” Nate huffed, “Still hurts though.” he lifted his arm to rest his hand on top of the one that was on his shoulder and gave a weak smile, “Thanks, Ray.”

 

Ray affirmed, “I’m always here if you need me, man.”

 

“You’re my best friend, and I know this sounds  _ so cheesy,  _ but there’s nobody I’d rather be stuck with here than you.” Nate admitted.

 

Ray grinned, “That  _ was  _ cheesy.  Come here, bro.” he pulled Nate into what the two of them called a ‘bro hug’.  When they pulled away, Ray stated, “You’re still getting the bed.”   
  


“Didn’t you hear everything I just said?  If I have a nightmare--”

 

Ray interjected, “I’ll be there to help if you do.”

 

“Ugh…” Nate rolled his eyes, “What did I do to deserve such a supportive friend?”

 

Ray nudged him slightly, “Hey.  Smile.”   
  


“Fine.” the historian conceded and smiled, “You’re an asshole, Ray Palmer.”   
  


Ray snarked back, “An asshole you’ve gotta pretend to date for the next couple of days, if you want to.”

 

“I guess we don’t really have a choice.” Nate replied, “Could be fun.” he then asked, “Ray Palmer, do you take me as your temporary pretend boyfriend, until this mission does us part?”   
  


Ray grinned and replied, “I do.”

 

*

 

A few hours later, the two time travellers decided to go get dinner at the hotel restaurant, both getting dressed into semi smart clothes.

 

Nate looked at his friend when he came out of the bathroom dressed in a waistcoat and white shirt and gaped slightly as he said, “Wow.  You clean up nice.”   
  


“You too.” Ray replied, looking at the historian, who had swapped his usual sweater or t-shirt for a dark, long sleeved shirt.

 

Nate couldn’t help the breathless puff of laughter he released, trying his hardest not to blush as he said, “Thanks.”

 

“Should we turn on our comms for this?” Ray asked.

 

Nate replied, “Sara said only to call them if it was absolutely necessary.  We can’t look weird talking to ourselves, after all.”

 

“So we’re in this alone.” Ray stated, “Great.  You get to experience my awkward fake date conversation in person.”

 

Nate’s eyes lit up with delight, “Sounds fun.  And plus, I’m not any better.”

 

“I have literally no idea what to do though.” Ray admitted, “The last person I went undercover with like this was Kendra.”

 

Nate looked down for a second in thought, then reassured, “Then just act the way you did with her.”   
  


“Thing is, we were actually dating at the time.” Ray said, “We kissed, we held hands and we loved each other.”

 

Nate stepped forward, “So what you’re saying is that you’re afraid to kiss me, to hold hands with me?”

 

“I just don’t wanna make you uncomfortable.” Ray said, reaching out to touch Nate’s arm.

 

Nate moved closer so that he and Ray were mere inches from each other, and he whispered, “It’s okay.  You won’t ruin anything.  It doesn’t mean anything… right?” he leaned close until their lips were almost touching, “We’ll still be friends.  This is just a mission.”

 

The hand Ray had on Nate’s arm moved up to cup his cheek, and he murmured, “This is just practice, right?”

 

“Yeah.” Nate wet his lips, attempting to remember what it felt like to breathe and slightly hesitantly agreed, “Practice.”   
  
They stood like that for a few quick seconds, both fighting the urge to stare at the other’s lips.  Nate’s hand found Ray’s waist, and he moved even closer until their foreheads rested together, their lips mere inches from each other.

 

“We should--”

 

Nate’s voice was quiet as he agreed, “--Yeah.”

 

Neither one found it in them to move, however, and Nate eventually decided ‘fuck it’ and surged up, colliding their mouths together in a hot, passionate kiss.  Ray kissed back with fervour, his hands moving to find a place, one eventually settling on Nate’s shoulder whilst the other rested on his back.

 

Ray softly groaned into the kiss, and when they pulled back for air, both of them looked slightly dishevelled.

 

“Well…” Nate scoffed, his voice hoarse from the kiss, “That was one hell of a practise.”

 

Ray smirked, “Yeah.  If that doesn’t fool them that we’re a couple…”   
  


“... nothing else will.” Nate finished his sentence, then offered his hand, “So… we ready to do this?”

 

Ray nodded and linked his fingers with the other man’s, “Yep.”

 

*

 

When they walked into the restaurant holding hands, it earned a couple of stares, but both men tried to ignore them as they were led to a table.

 

“So… what exactly are we looking for?” Nate asked Ray after ordering.

 

Ray replied, “Anything weird, I guess.  Technology in the wrong place, glitches… dinosaurs.”

 

“It was  _ one _ time, Ray.” Nate grumbled.

 

Ray retorted, “Actually, considering I was actually stuck in that time, and we went back there, then we had to deal with dinosaurs in the present… a lot more than once.”   
  


Nate playfully kicked Ray under the table, remarking, “Smartass.” after a couple of seconds, he changed the subject, “So… we were talking about our boyfriends and girlfriends earlier today, you only mentioned Kendra.  I told you everything interesting about  _ my  _ dating history.  What about you?”

 

“Well, I also dated Felicity.” Ray began, “Didn’t work out.  There was Anna.” a twinge of sadness seemed to fill his voice,  _ “Also  _ didn’t work out.  My last boyfriend, Brad, cheated.  And my college partners were never really serious.”

 

Nate listened to each word, and sighed, “Sorry.  That’s all really rough, man.”

 

“Yeah, well…” Ray shrugged, “It’s not like either of us have had easy lives.  I lost people, you had hemophilia and didn’t get along with your dad.”   
  


Nate corrected, “I  _ lived  _ with my hemophilia.  Sometimes, it sucked, but I survived.  My dad… okay, that  _ really  _ sucked at times, especially when he made me feel like more of a project than a son, but… you know… you can’t change people.”

 

“I’m sorry you had to live like that.” Ray said, resting his hand on Nate’s arm and stroking circles with his thumb, “Seriously.”

 

Nate gave a weak smile and nod, “Thanks.  I’ve never really talked to many people about all of this.”   
  


“Why not?” Ray asked.

 

The historian replied, “I sometimes have a problem trusting people.  At least, trusting them with who I am on the inside.  People always see me as this asshole who is over excitable and is super confident but I’m not.  I’m not like that.  Not really.”

 

“Well, I’m  _ always  _ here.” Ray breathed softly.

  
Nate nodded before leaning forward and capturing Ray’s lips in a brief, gentle kiss.  It earned mutters from people in the restaurant, and Ray was pretty sure he heard someone leaving, and he rolled his eyes before pulling away.  Nate slightly lingered before pulling back.

 

“It’s the 21st century and people  _ still  _ hate same sex couples.” Ray stated, disgusted, “When are people going to realise that two people being in love doesn’t matter, despite gender?”

 

Nate remarked, “When hell freezes over, probably.”

 

“Reminds me of one of my boyfriends in college.  Total douche when we were out in public, denying everything between us to the point he insulted me in front of his friends.” Ray said.

 

Nate frowned, “Holy shit.  That’s…  _ awful.” _

 

“Yeah, but…” Ray shrugged, “It was something I dealt with.”   
  


The historian nodded, then swiftly changed the subject, “So what’s the plan?  Stick around here, figure out what we screwed up?”

 

“We can get some drinks at the bar.” Ray suggested.

 

Nate scoffed, “That is  _ not  _ a good idea.  You don’t wanna see me drunk.  Wait.  Can I even get drunk?”

 

“To be honest, I really have no idea.” Ray explained, “When I made the serum, I was under pressure, so…”   
  


Nate nodded, “I understand.”

 

“It’d be fun to see you get drunk, though.” Ray grinned.

 

Nate rolled his eyes, “You’re a bad influence, Palmer.  We’re supposed to be doing our job, looking for time aberrations and shit, not getting drunk.”   
  


“If we find an aberration, we’ll deal with it.  We’re allowed to have fun, y’know.” Ray smiled.

 

Nate conceded,  _ “Fine.   _ Maybe one or two drinks after we’ve ate.”

 

*   
  


Those one or two drinks soon turned into five or six, and when the two returned to their room, they were giggling and completely inebriated.

 

“S-Sara’s goin’ to kill us.” Nate slurred, leaning into Ray.

 

Ray replied, “S-So whaaa’, we’re having fun.  We can deal with the ab-aberr-- those things when they appear.”   
  


They both stumbled into the room, laughing loudly as they did so.  Nate managed to sober up enough to shush Ray, but then snorted another laugh as he closed the door.

 

He turned to his friend and pulled him into a tight hug, “L’ve you bro.”

 

“Love you too.” Ray smiled, then pulled back to tug Nate into a drunken kiss, the taste of alcohol on his lips foul but still somehow attractive.

 

This kiss was more tongue and clumsiness than their previous ones, causing them both to moan into it.  Ray pushed Nate back so that they both landed onto the bed, pulling away to laugh briefly before gazing at each other.

 

Nate noticed Ray’s look of wonderment and looked confused, “What?”

 

“Nothin’...” Ray began, running his fingers through Nate’s hair, “It’s jus’... You’re really pretty.”   
  


Nate couldn’t help but laugh at that, “I’m pretty?  Thanks, I guess.  You too.”

 

He grabbed Ray by the collar and pulled him into another heated kiss, feeling the scientist’s hand wander under his shirt, causing him to moan from the skin-on-skin contact.

 

They rocked together into the kisses, and Nate could feel himself getting aroused so decided to pull away, “Wait… W-We shouldn’t…”

 

Ray’s lips wandered to his neck, and Nate couldn’t help but tilt back his head and groan.  His body felt like it was on fire, too hot, too turned on, and yet the fear that this would ruin their friendship was still there.

 

“I’m serious.” he said, pulling away from Ray, “We shouldn’t.”   
  


Ray looked slightly hurt, but nevertheless accepted it and got up, “I-I’ll sleep on the floor.”

 

Nate nodded before stumbling into the bathroom to change his clothes and returning to see a sleeping Ray on the floor.  He gave a soft smile, unable to deny how endearing he looked.

 

“G’night, Ray.” he said, then clambered into bed, turning off the light.

 

It didn’t take him long to fall asleep.

 

*

 

A few hours later, Ray was suddenly jolted awake by the sound of a loud cry.  He shot up, then looked around to see that Nate was tossing and turning on the bed, sobbing in his sleep.

 

He was whispering something that Ray couldn’t make out, but presumed was about his grandfather sacrificing himself.

  
Ray switched on the bedside lamp, then rested a hand on Nate’s shoulder, ignoring the thudding headache he had from drinking too much.  He shook the historian lightly, “Nate?” he murmured, “Hey, buddy.  It’s okay.  It’s just a dream.”

 

Nate suddenly shot up with a hysterical sob before looking around, trying to find his bearings as tears rolled down his cheeks.

 

Ray cupped his face, stroking away the tears, “Hey… It’s okay.” he said, “I’m here.  You just had a nightmare.”

 

“R-Ray?” was all Nate could get out before promptly breaking down in tears.

 

Ray clambered into the bed and pulled Nate into his arms, stroking his hair as he sobbed into his chest, holding him until he fell back asleep.  He decided it was best not to leave Nate, so decided to remain with him, watching his shoulders rise and fall and eventually, he ended up falling asleep too.

 

*

 

In the morning, Nate awoke with a ringing headache, still in a slumbering Ray’s arms.  He looked up at the scientist’s face, not having the heart to wake him up, only to continue gazing at him.

 

His heart hurt in his chest when his looked at the man, and he didn’t understand why.  They were friends, and he didn’t want to ruin that -- he couldn’t.

 

“Mornin’...” Ray mumbled, catching his attention.

 

Ray’s eyes opened and he roused awake, looking at the other man, who seemed to be slightly saddened by the way he was looking at him.

 

“What is this, Ray?” Nate asked, “We’ve been pretending to be a couple for less than twenty four hours and it already feels like I’m catching feelings.”   
  


Ray stroked his cheek, “Is that a bad thing?”   
  


“Yes.” Nate pulled away from the touch, “It is.  Friendships get ruined by this kinda thing, Ray.  We’re just distracting each other.”

 

Ray frowned, “Okay.  So you don’t want this?”

 

“That’s the issue.” Nate sighed, “I do.  I want you.   But I hate being vulnerable with people.  It just feels like I’m going to lose them.”

 

Ray raised his head, confused, “You’re not going to lose me.”

 

“You don’t know that!” Nate cried, feeling himself get emotional again.

 

Ray took his face between his hands and promised, “You won’t.  I swear.”

 

Staring into the other man’s desperate eyes caused Nate’s mentality to change from one of ever-present anxiety to ‘fuck it’ as he suddenly pulled Ray into a harsh kiss by the back of the neck.  Surprised, Ray made an ‘oof’ sound before relaxing into it, shuffling so that he was lying flush against the historian.

 

The kiss was just as heated as the previous night’s had been, if not moreso.  Mouths clashed against mouths, sighs and pants being released between the two.

 

One of Ray’s hands moved to slip under Nate’s pajama pants, causing the other man to softly groan, arching up.

 

However, before the situation could escalate any further, there was a loud, resounding crash that pulled both men’s attention away.  Ray pulled away, looking behind him before shooting Nate a knowing look.

 

“Aberration?” he asked.

 

Nate nodded, “Let’s get dressed.  You call the team.  We can continue this one later.”

 

“That a promise?” Ray grinned, getting up.

 

Nate smirked back, “Definitely.”

 

*

 

After getting dressed and calling the rest of the team, Nate and Ray made their way downstairs, preparing to battle their adversary, and pausing when they saw what it was.

 

“Holy crap.” Nate remarked, “That’s a  _ very  _ big triceratops.”   
  


The dinosaur swerved around from the mass of chaos it had already caused, its eyes blaring with rage and hunger.  Nate steeled up and stood protectively in front of Ray, knowing it’d have a harder time swallowing pieces of metal over Ray’s frequently damaged suit.

 

“I can take it!” Ray hissed, then flew upward before firing a single ion blast at the creature, frowning when it didn’t even budge, “Then again…”

 

It seemed maddened and began to take large steps towards him, growling.  Nate jumped into action, leaping over and ramming his fist directly into the creature’s face, trying to ignore the fact that he was punching  _ an actual freakin’ dinosaur  _ as if it were human.

 

The dinosaur groaned and lurched to the side from the force of the blow, but seemed otherwise unbothered, which had Nate consider the possibility that it was somehow enhanced.

 

He yelled up at his ‘friend’, “I think that something happened to it when it came through the timestream!  It’s somehow more durable!” he stepped away from the creature, which seemed angered by him, and he held up his hands, “Nice triceratops.”

 

Thankfully, the other members of the team burst in just on time and Mick ran over before firing the Heat Gun directly at the creature’s head, a river of hot fire coming to reign over it’s face.  It yelped and attempted to run, but eventually, the fire got too much and it collapsed into a dead heap on the ground.

 

“I  _ loved  _ Jurassic Park!” Mick growled.

 

His partner, Snart, rolled his eyes and asked Ray and Nate, “So, kids.  Just how long did it take you two to hook up?  Sara and I have a bet.”   
  


“Uh…” Nate began, unsteeling, “Not really your business?”

 

*

 

Back on the ship, Nate was unpacking his stuff when Ray came to the door.

 

“Knock, knock.” Ray said, catching Nate’s attention.

 

The historian looked up and sighed, “Ray.”

 

“We should talk.” Ray said as he walked into the room.

 

Nate huffed and sat down, “Yes.  Yes we should.”

 

“I’ve dated before on the ship.” Ray began, “It didn’t end well.  Both of us got hurt, it was just messy.  And I don’t know--”   
  


Nate accepted, “You don’t want that with me.  I understand, Ray.  Besides, we’d just worry about each other--”

 

“That’s not what I’m saying.” Ray interrupted, sitting beside Nate, “Look, I don’t know if it’ll happen again, if we’ll both get our hearts broken.  Or if it’ll be great between us.  Hell, I don’t know if we’re all going to live to tomorrow with the lives we lead.”   
  


Nate looked confused, “W-What are you saying?”   
  


“I’m saying… let’s not waste time.  We like each other.” Ray explained, “So why are we being such douchebags about it.  We should just take life by the reigns an--” he was cut off when Nate grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him into a hard kiss.

 

He was initially surprised, but when reality set in and he realised what was happening, his hands found Nate’s shoulders and pulled him closer.

 

They broke for air a couple of seconds later, their foreheads still touching.

 

Nate laughed, “It was about time we officially got together.”   
  


“Thank God for careless mistakes.” Ray grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos/Reviews are always loved!!
> 
>  
> 
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